NASCAR reportedly close to a partnership with ethanol lobbyists from Growth Energy: ready to "go green" in a new way?

The Republican file photoSunoco will remain the official fuel of NASCAR, while the sport explores alternative fuel options such as ethanol.

By Tripp Mickle

Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 4, 2010)

NASCAR is poised to sign its first new high-profile sponsorship in 20 months and take a significant step forward in the green initiative it began two years ago by aligning with an ethanol lobby group known as Growth Energy.

The deal, which sources said is close to completion, would make Growth Energy an official marketing partner. If completed, the deal also would usher new money into NASCAR at a time when the series and its teams have been challenged by cuts to corporate sponsorship budgets.

Sunoco will remain the official fuel of NASCAR. Sunoco raised some concerns about the Growth Energy deal that are being worked through, according to sources.

Growth Energy is expected to use a NASCAR partnership primarily to promote the American ethanol industry. It’s unclear whether Growth Energy members would provide ethanol to Sunoco. Sunoco has its own ethanol production plant in upstate New York.

Terms of the proposed agreement with Growth Energy were not available. NASCAR official partnerships range in value from $2 million to $10 million annually. Sunoco is in the seventh year of its NASCAR partnership. It pays approximately $10 million annually.

The ethanol partnership would be tied to NASCAR’s reported plan to convert to 15 percent ethanol-blended fuel in 2011. Fox Sports reported in May that Hendrick Motorsports was already testing the fuel.

NASCAR spokesman Andrew Giangola confirmed the series is evaluating alternative fuels with its fuel partner, Sunoco, but declined to comment on a potential partnership with Growth Energy.

“We haven’t specified a time frame in transitioning to a next-generation fuel, nor do we speculate or comment on potential new partners,” Giangola said.

Growth Energy declined to comment.

The last high-profile new sponsorship NASCAR signed was with Ask.com in January 2009. It subsequently announced new partnerships with Screenvision and Drive4COPD, a multiyear public health initiative, and since then has renewed agreements with key sponsors DirecTV, Dodge, DuPont, Kraft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever.

Growth Energy is a two-year-old advocacy organization that represents more than 65 ethanol production plants across the United States. It promotes ethanol as a renewable fuel that can effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

The organization has actively pushed the federal government to move forward with a proposal that would increase the blending of gas from 10 to 15 percent. A NASCAR partnership would allow it to extend the promotion of ethanol from lawmakers on Capitol Hill to consumers across America.

NASCAR signaled its interest in developing a green initiative in 2008 by hiring Mike Lynch as the managing director of NASCAR’s Green Innovation program. The addition of ethanol-blended gas would be the most radical step the sport has undertaken since starting its green initiative. Its other programs, which included recycling and tree-planting initiatives, didn’t affect the on-track product.

Shifting to an ethanol blend could present some challenges for teams and tracks. Ethanol can’t travel in pipelines along with gasoline because it picks up excess water. Therefore, it has to be transported in trucks.

The IndyCar Series switched to 100 percent ethanol fuel in 2005, and ethanol fuel trucks come to every race to provide the fuel. Next season, its fuel will be provided by Unica, the Brazilian sugarcane industry association, and Sunoco.